Name of the Project
Kachi lithium brine project.

Location
Catamarca, in Argentina.

Project Owner/s
Lake Resources.

Project Description
A prefeasibility study (PFS) has demonstrated Kachi’s potential to deliver high-purity product – based on a sustainable and scalable process – required by battery makers,.

The PFS envisages a long-life, low-cost operation, with a production target of 25 500 t/y of battery-grade lithium carbonate using direct lithium extraction technology based on ion exchange, which, in turn, is based on an indi­cated resource of one-million tonnes lithium car­bonate equivalent.

The process involves the treatment of about 23-million cubic metres a year of brine at 250 g/ℓ lithium, with an overall plant recovery of 83.2%. The eluate from the process is further concentrated and purified, and then fed into a conventional lithium carbonate plant.

No solvent extraction plant is required to remove boron.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.05-billion and an internal rate of return of 25%, with a payback from first product delivery of five years.

Capital Expenditure
The project entails an investment of $544-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Lake Resources has confirmed that the production base case on the Kachi project will be increased from 25 500 t/y to 50 000 t/y of lithium carbonate equivalent in the definitive feasibility to be released in mid-2022. This will be supported by an anticipated increased resource estimate from drilling results.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Lilac Solutions (lithium extraction testwork) and Hatch (engineering and design services).

Contact Details for Project Information
Lake Wells, tel +61 2 9299 9690 or email hello@lakeresources.com.au.